The California Supreme Court unanimously upheld a 2002 state law that allows mediation of deadlocked contract negotiations between growers and farmworker unions, including the power of mediators to set the contract terms, reported the Associated Press. The decision was a victory for “the union launched by iconic labor leader Cesar Chavez against one of the largest U.S. fruit farms,” said AP.
“The decision maintains the power of farmworker unions by ensuring contracts that guarantee wages, hours, vacation time and other terms that could otherwise be decided by employers,” said AP. Gerawan Farming had challenged the law in a fight with the United Farm Workers of America, co-founded by Chavez. Gerawan Farming hires thousands of workers for its nectarine, peach and plum farms in California’s Central Valley and markets fruit under the Prima trade name.
The UFW won the right to represent Gerawan workers in 1990 but the two sides could not agree on a contract. In 2013, the UFW asked the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board to order mediation, said AP. The mediator wrote a contract that later was approved by the labor board. Two years ago, an appellate court said the law was unconstitutional because if did not include a set of standards to assure uniform results. At that time, Dan Gerawan, one of the farm owners, said the 2002 law allowed the government to unilaterally set wages and working conditions “without any say whatsoever,” said AP.